And the Basket Descends

The expression "going to Hell in a hand basket" is, at best, of uncertain origin--though it seems to be distinctly a product of the US; but there's not much doubt about its meaning.  It indicates a continuous and seemingly unalterable decline in the state of affairs, be it the state of a person, a business, a government entity or anything else.   The general direction of our culture fits that pattern.  It's not the economy, it's not the decline in the military; it's the general decline of the morality of the nation.  That is what is pulling our nation downward.
When our country was founded, it was founded upon a moral code that was specifically Bible based.  In fact, John Adams stated  "Our constitution was made only for a a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Yes, that's right, contrary to what's been taught in our history classes in the last 80 or so years, our founding fathers--those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were largely Christian men.  By that, I mean men who held to what would be considered today to be evangelical or even fundamental Christian faith.  This is born out by exploring the writings of the founders and by reading what others wrote and spoke about them.
Now that we've driven religion, as it was know to the founders, from our culture, is it any wonder why this nation flounders?  Certainly not.  With the decline of a religion of absolutes, we have become an immoral people.  We have declared wrong to be right, legalized the unthinkable; marginalized those who object.....
Maybe our progressive thinkers have managed to destroy us.  If our constitution will only work for religious and moral people and they've destroyed religion and morality, maybe our constitution is no longer the document by which we can be governed.
And the basket descends....

Not a Fan, by Kyle Idleman, a book review

One of my many pastor friends strongly recommended this book some time ago.  He was thinking about using it for a small group study.  Sadly, I didn't get around to it (yeah--I was too lazy) in a timely enough fashion to give him my input before he started to use it; but now having read it, I'm thinking the group will have great success if they really pay attention to the underlying Biblical principles that Idleman uses as he develops his theme.

The whole idea of the book is a common one: Jesus asked for followers, not for fans.  Idleman builds the thought in three parts: Fan or Follower? an honest diagnosis; An Invitation to Follow (the unedited version) and finally Following Jesus--wherever, whenever, whatever.   He does this in fourteen simple, short chapters; each one just about long enough to digest while downing that last cup of coffee, or during a the morning break at work.  Doing that, you'll be done in a couple weeks or so.  (Or you might get hooked, and just sit and read the whole thing in an evening.)

His writing style is simple, personal, sometimes humorous and often quite pointed.  Any reader who does not put up his defenses (I defy you to teach me anything!!!) will get jabbed quite often by God's Word reaching out from the text and touching him.   The book is dotted with "Not a Fan" stories.  These are from folks who have come to the point of making the choice to follow or not, and have chosen to follow; all of them go right to the heart.

Not a Fan is available at your local Christian bookstore or any of the major on-line outlets.  The retail is about 15 dollars.  Buy it, interact with it and pass it on.  Unless you put your defenses on, you will be changed by the way it puts God's Word into the common experience.

The Game Warden Files--The Academy Days

It was actually called the FOURTH BASIC SCHOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION OFFICERS, but the common term is "going to the academy."   Strictly speaking, an academy is a building where training takes place.  DEC has held basic schools in many buildings over the years, but mine was truly at an academy--back to the New York State Police Academy, in Albany, where I had done my Basic School for municipal officers several years before.
At the time, DEC hired officers to fill openings as they came up.  They put a lot of folks into the field without having gone through a Basic School.  When they had enough people to train, they'd hold the school, usually adding a few more officers to start in the school to fill vacancies that they'd not yet filled.  I was one of those late hires.  I arrived on Sunday night, April 18, 1982 and was met by a squared away lieutenant who extended his hand, said "Hi, I'm Dave Wayman, and who might you be?"  I introduced myself and reminded him that we had met some years back over a cup of coffee.  He welcomed me and got me hustled off to my quarters.
The first 48 hours or so was pretty much a blur.  However, I well recall PT at 5:00 AM that first morning.  Never having been a runner, and having no time to get trained up to doing it, that was exceptionally tough on me.  The half-mile run that first morning almost killed me!  I did struggle with PT throughout the program and had to fight past a couple injuries, but by Memorial Day was able to run the three miles that was the morning requirement.  At the end of the program, part of the graduation requirement was a timed mile and a half run.  I finished it with a whopping 2 seconds to spare.  If memory serves correctly it was 12:13 and the requirement for my age was 12:15.  I'd love to say that I was able to become a runner and that all the good health training stayed with me through the years; but it would be a big lie.  I did, however gain a lot of strength and fitness, and took off a bunch of weight, though I'd fight, and continue yet to fight, a battle with my weight and the health issues it brings.
The school soon settled into a routine that was pretty livable. I was in a quad with three other guys.  We shared a bathroom with 1 shower, two sinks and one toilet--room for everyone, but any modesty one might have had was pretty much lost.
My roommate was, and still is, a unique character.  Even before we were given liberty (the opportunity to sign out, leave the campus and return before a set time), he'd sometimes disappear in the evening, coming home in the wee hours of the morning.  I don't know how he handled it, because I needed my sleep; but he managed to make it through.  After one of his first such excursions, he came quietly into the room, in the dark, tripped over the end of his bed and about landed across the foot of my bed.  After that, I left his desk light on so he'd come in safely.  It put a whole new spin on the commercial "We'll leave the light on for ya,." and became a running gag throughout our careers.  When he retired, I have him a pair of night-lights as a gift.  He knew what the gift would be before he even opened it.
As the program progressed I did well in everything but the PT.  I was good in law--frustrating some because I'd be done with the exams and gone in such a short time; did very well in firearms; was OK in the driving ; overall, I had a pretty easy and uneventful time.
When we did our EVOC, as we called the driver training portion of the program, we ran a well-designed track with an instructor in the car.  The training was very well done and it produced some good drives and taught a lot of techniques which have kept me from accidents at least a few times both on and off duty.  1982 was before the advent of seat belt laws.  Our instructors, however, insisted on our wearing them.  Some of us made known our regular lack of use and my instructor decided to teach me a lesson.  In a decreasing radius turn, he reached over and popped my belt latch.  I about flew into his lap, and momentarily lost control of the car.  That momentary loss of control cost me a few seconds of time on what was stacking up to be a near-perfect run on the track.  It taught me that I can drive  better when belted in and I've been a firm believer in seat belts ever since.  EVOC was also my first experience in high-speed driving under controlled circumstances.  I-88 had been completed from Schenectady to Oneonta, but was not yet open.  We used that for high-speed pursuit practice--We learned a lot out there, and had a lot of fun doing it.  We had great instructors.
Our law classes were interesting.  The basic legal issues I'd already had in my first basic school; but in this basic school we had to learn the Fish and Wildlife Law, and the rest of the Environmental Conservation Law.  That was pretty intense some times.  Fortunately, we had some great instructors for that, also.  One of them could come up with the most ridiculous scenarios and make us work through them with the law, coming to a proper conclusion.  It was a good lesson in logic as well as the law.
Most of the Fish and Wildlife was pretty good.  Some of the wildlife ID suffered from bad pictures and slides--I never did see the difference in the three fish in one picture that was used on the final--but most of it was pretty good.  We even took a trip to the NY State Museum and had the chance to handle hundreds, if not thousands of preserved hides of everything from ducks to exotic species.
The only event of note from the firing range was that the agency had just been equipped with model 681 Smith and Wesson revolvers which were billed as "the magnum of the 80's."  The production run of guns we had was so bad that we several S&W technicians on-site, along with our own armorers.  They were constantly working through problems on the guns.  Some guys would have three guns break down in a day of shooting.  We got through it, but it added to frustration and lessened the amount of shooting we got to do. That said, we turned out some excellent shooters.  DEC historically has turned out some of the best pistol shots in the state, and our class was no exception.  Several guys, and I think one of our gals, went on to do well in competitions.
By late summer, it was time to get break out of there.  Many of my classmates went on to higher ranks.  As of this writing, two of them have served as Division Director of the agency.  We graduation early in August and headed off to our assignments.  About a week after graduation, I assumed my duties as the Game Warden of Brooklyn!  Yet another adventure.

The Game Warden Files--Chatham PD years

If there was one defining moment in the decision to become a police officer, it was watching the movie Serpico, that turned me to wanting to be a police officer.  I'd already given up on the dream of being an EnCon Officer, but as Peggy and I sat watching Serpico, something stirred within me.  I can't really put my finger on what it was. While working at Blue Seal feeds I had become friends with Johnny Bell from Chatham PD. Charlie Brown--yeah, that's really his name--was another old-timer on the department, and two of my high school classmates were members of the force and yet another had been and gone.  So, I put in an application there and began the wait.  That was sometime right about the time we were married, June, 1974.
In 1975, there was a sudden shakeup in the department and I was offered an interview.  Peggy and I had a vacation planned to Mystic Seaport and had to cut our plans short by a day so I could attend the interview, but I got back in plenty of time and along with four others, was appointed to a part-time position on the force.  Of those five, three of us have done well.  One is retired from the State Attorney General's Office, one is the (now) semi-retired police chief in Chatham who has made a name for himself in the training field, and I've been successful in many ways myself.
I started working the "D line." on the nights before my day off driving truck.  The D-line went from 8 PM to 4 AM and was there to provide a second officer during the hours of the night when more violent incidents might take place.  As I grew into the job, Sunday afternoon solo shifts were offered and then ultimately I was allowed to work all alone on days or evenings during the week and then even the busiest nights: Friday and Saturdays.  I even picked up a few of the mythical A-line tours--midnight to 8 AM.  That was the shift of the "real cops" or so it seemed.  Generally the greatest problem an A-line brought was staying awake.  Something that's still not all that easy when I work them.
Those were good days.  We helped a lot of people with problems, made a lot of good arrests and had a lot of fun.  All work should be fun--at least in retrospect--even when you're caked in mud or soaked in sweat, and the job was fun.  Police officers and others engaged in high stress jobs often find humor in weird things and I was no different.  I might recall some of those humorous moments in later posts.  There were also some dangerous moments, some crazy ones and some "WHAT WAS I THINKING?" segments that might get written also.
If I have two regrets from those years it would be that handling domestic violence incidents was not a priority within society and I fear that some who could have been helped were not.  Even thought we tried our best, the support services were not there and families continued in their dysfunction.  The other regret would be the lack of skills in handling child sex abuse cases.  I still have one that bothers me.  The defendant's attorney's face told me all I needed to know; I never developed enough information to make an arrest, though.
When I started in Chatham, it was pretty much "Here's a badge, gun and law book--now go to work."  Though I rode with another officer for several months before working alone, there was no real training--there were no opportunities for part-time officers to go to a basic police school.   Then came an incident in which an untrained police officer used excessive force and a lawsuit developed.  Two part-time schools became available almost immediately.  I was given the chance to attend the one held at the New York State Police Academy.  It was the only municipal basic school ever to be held at that facility and, to the best of my knowledge, still has been the only one there.  At the time of the training, I was working only part-time jobs as I'd left my job with Blue Seal Feeds (a story in itself) and was scratching for any work I could, with Peggy doing a few things too.  School occupied my time, but it was all MY time, I wasn't paid for any of it.
That training paid off though, when it opened up the opportunity for me to be hired by the Taconic Region, New York State Park Police in July of 1997.  That put me back to work full-time for most of the time until I was picked up full-time by Chatham in 1980.  The Park Police, in the summer, was a great job.  Lots of people, a sufficient number of complaints to  keep me occupied, and the chance to travel between parks and see a bit of countryside.  Next to the job with DEC, it's the best I ever had.
In April of 1980, I was appointed full time to Chatham and stayed there until I was called to work for DEC. From 80-82, I also did some work part-time for the Sheriff's Office, under the newly elected Paul Proper, and Undersheriff Jim Bertram.  Interestingly, it had been Jim Bertram who had issued me my one and only speeding ticket the summer after my senior year in high school, and it was Jim who had been Acting Chief when I was hired part-time by Chatham.  He almost ended up as Assistant Commissioner in DEC and would have again been my boss had so politics not gotten in the way (or at least that's the way I understand it).
In April 1982, I took a few days off to do some work on a kitchen for a friend and take a quick couple days away with Peggy and the boys.  The day before we were to leave, our car started acting up.  In those pre-cell phone days, it was only because I was home to get the phone call that got the call which would take me into the job as an ECO.  It's often said the "The Devil's in the details," but here was a case where it was certainly God who in the details.  The thing that kept us home to get that call was a $2.00 fuel filter, plugged by some bad gas.

The Attributes of God (Unchangeable and Eternal)

Ps 102:25-27:  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

This passage which, incidentally is quoted in Hebrews 1:11-12, talks about the unchangeable nature of God.  He is, was, and always will be the same.   In following the Bible’s account of creation, through the fall of man, the flood, the choosing of Abram, the birth of the nation of Israel, continuing through the Exodus and going through the years of the judges, kings, captivity and even to the time of Christ and the first century church He did not change.  He has not changed in the 2000 years since the church began and He’s not going to change in our lifetime or that of our children. 

When written in the Psalms, this statement was directed toward the Father, when quoted in Hebrews, it was directed at the Son.  This clearly puts Christ as God, debunking any belief that “Jesus might have been a good man or a great prophet, but certainly not God.” 

This passage also mentions His eternal nature “…years will never end.”  This begs the question of when did God begin.  Psalms 90:2 tells us “…from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”  That is the span of eternity. 

So, the God of whom we speak, God Jehovah, the LORD, “I AM WHO I AM,” existed before time, will exist beyond the end of time, and will not change.  This is the short version of what the Bible tells us. 

The Attributes of God (What God are we Talking About?)

As we start looking at the attributes of God, let’s start with this one passage.  It’s the well-known account of Moses returning to the mountain to get the second copy the commandments:

Ex 34:5-7   Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.   And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."

First we must determine just who it is we’re talking about.  God has many names throughout Scripture, but the first we need to look at is the LORD.  In our English translations, when we see it written with all capital letters, it is the following the Jewish tradition of never speaking the name by which God referred to himself when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush.  It means “I am who I am” and today we use the word Jehovah to indicate that same proper name.  In that we see that He defines himself.  We do not, we cannot—and, might I add, we dare not—define God according to what we wish Him to be.  It was He who spoke the Earth into being, and breathed life into all creatures, ending with man, and then said “It is very good.” 

He is compassionate and gracious.  The image that compassion should bring to mind is like that of cuddling a much loved child.  Among my favorite memories are those of my kids cuddled up with me in my chair or on the couch while I’ve read them stories, comforted them when they’ve been upset, or maybe just snuggled with them as they drifted off to sleep.  To grasp the concept of gracious, imagine again a child, this one struggling with some kind of problem.  You stop, bend over or kneel down to help.  There’s no obligation to do so, you do it only because it’s a child and it’s in your nature to enjoy helping children.  Such is the nature of God.  We are His children; it’s His nature to help us.  We could probably follow up on that last picture by thinking of trying to help a child put a square peg in a round hole.  We know it won’t work, but he just keeps trying to do it his way.  (NOTE: I raised boys—I’m sure it’s the same for girls!)

God is slow to anger, at least as we see it.  In Biblical history He waited generations, giving ample time for His people, the Nation of Israel, to repent and return to Him.  When they repented and returned, He forgave them…and then they rebelled again.  He waited and waited forgiving years of repeated rebellion; but ultimately he acted.  He did so justly.  He punished the guilty.  Without punishment for the guilty, there is no justice.  We’ll deal with that another time.

Children of Designer Gods (final)

That's final as in the last, not that this is a test.
I've been examining some misconceptions that I often see and hear among my friends.  That's enough looking at error.  Since I'm of the belief that the best defense against error is truth,  I'm going to move into a quick look at the attributes of God.  I should have my thought on the matter, and more importantly my Scripture on the matter, lined up in a couple days and will try to get it started by the weekend.